I'm not sure if this is the right forum section for this, and probably not the best place to ask for advice but whatever. I need some college advice/help, would be helpful if you're a Japanese translator or professional translator/interpreter. (MTL doesn't count) I'm currently in college and beginning fall quarter I'll be a sophomore (I know, I have a lot of time as everyone keeps telling me). At my college, it's a well known school and a major tech feeder since we have large companies here like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Google (some of people may know where this is). And because of this, almost all of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) classes are weed out classes where they basically try to cut out the people who can't "make the cut" (urban dictionary this if you don't know the term) but basically, I'm getting rekt in these classes since I'm trying to get into the CSE program (computer science & engineering). Since I realized I'm probably not getting in with around a 30% acceptance rate into the department with my current grades, I'm trying to get into Informatics, but that doesn't look good either since that's only about 3% higher in admittance rates. I know it's not all about the grades but I've pretty much been getting terrible grades in my all of my classes all quarter long. So I'm going to still apply to informatics but I'm currently leaning more towards Japanese literature as a major since I'm actually decent at Japanese comparing to my other skills and interested in the language itself. It's also pretty easy for me to learn unlike some people that struggle in it. I'm currently between JLPT N3-4 if you're wondering. Now on to the real question, since it's a major leap from engineering to liberal arts; is it worth to become a translator/interpreter? The only major worry I have is the ease of finding work after college, the pay, and what I would be doing. Now keep in mind that I live in an area where it's known to have a decent sized Japanese population in this city unlike other parts of the US. TL;DR I'm getting rekt in college and might switch to a liberal arts major
You sound incredibly lazy, you are not going to have a good time being a translator and alot jobs require a masters. Switch to business if you want easy but still able to find a job.
I'm not a translator but can I ask? Have you ever tried translating works? If yes do you enjoy it? Interpreting is a bit easier than translating so it's a different case.
Translators/interpreters are pretty much always in demand, however your value will increase if you can pick up mandarin as well. For most liberal arts your only option is teaching, with languages though, the more you learn the more valued you are as a translator (of course assuming you maintain an average to high rating in those languages.) And unlike most LA field, its not exactly saturated. For example i doubt there is a glut of mandarin to japanese translators
you should start paying attention to your classes and putting in time revising, I wouldn't bother switching because if you just want to become a translator put your own time in and it's easy to learn another language and then just go and do test to get a certificate, just do the major your currently doing Unless you don't enjoy it at all
If your go an be a translator then you can pretty much find a job as long as your certified and good at what you do especially since today's culture is so globalized. However I'd major in more than than one language to increase my value as an interpreter. Asian languages are harder than romanized ones at least for westerners since there isn't really a relation between the two like say Spanish and English.
1. Find out what you trully like 2. Find out what you trully can afford: books, programms, internships and so on. 3. Find out what perspectives your future university/college can offer to you. Visit www.quora.com - there, you can find different questions and good answers on similar subject and not only. Also, I think that Deathblade or RWX wrote something about that on wuxiaeorld. From what I know @Ai chan is a professional translator, maybe she can post 'inside' information. As a general rule: the best don't die of hunger. Strive to be one of them! Good luck! http://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/today-i-become-a-neet.7014/ http://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/i-need-advice-from-those-experienced.4977/
I'm not sure if you should give up like that, if you see the chance to continue and end your major i would do it
I may be lazy but I have been putting in work when I've had to. And business is also super competitive here. I don't think a lot require masters. It depends on what you major in, some engineering majors only need bachelors like computer science or materials science & engineering.
My friend did tell me it sounded like I'm not enjoying what I'm doing. But I do enjoy learning about Japanese grammar and kanji.
I'm currently sitting at a 2.38 gpa. I might be getting an academic warning if I drop below 2.0 for two quarters in a row.
I have tried a little translating and it was kind of interesting but it took quite a while since there are many words that I don't know yet.
Ai-chan has arrived! Tan tadan tan tan! Professional translator here! Used to translate Japanese webnovels too, but I haven't done that for more than a year now. Since you've asked about jobs after graduation, let me give you the reality of the situation. There's ALWAYS a job, for any skill and for any interest. The only question is, do YOU want to do it? Your friends, parents and relatives will probably tell you that there is no future in language, translation, informatics and mass communication. That is an absolute bullshit. You are the one that matters, not your parents, friends or relatives. What works for them may not work for you, what works for you may not work for them. I was given the same bullshit advice as I grew up and ended up making 10 years' worth of mistake. I was told that there was no future in literature and art, the only money is in sciences. I did as told, failed spectacularly. Still, I believed in the advice my parents, my teachers and my relatives gave me and pushed on, continuing to fail and I didn't know what I did wrong. I was in limbo for over a year after dropping out from Software Engineering and Games Design. Then my father, bless be him, told me to just study anything I want, as long I got a certificate. I still didn't know what I wanted, but in my country, being a school teacher is a high paying job with lots of benefits, so I grabbed a teaching degree. I loved teaching, I loved kids and I loved school. What I hated was how the government used us teachers as clerks and secretaries instead of allowing us to do our job of teaching. So I left. I still have a teaching degree, but unless the education policy changes, I will not return to teaching. Now, getting back to the topic, there is no such thing as 'no job' or 'no future' in any field. You may have a degree in Japanese Literature, but that doesn't mean you have to be a Japanese culture professor or translator. What you need is a qualification, after that, you're on your own anyway. Only you knows what you want and what you can do. Only your own vision counts. As a comparison, I'm making triple now in my literature+translation effort compared to what I would've gotten had I stayed as a game programmer. It's a little dangerous, being a freelance professional translator, since I don't reject even the less than lawful clients, but this is what I'm good at. This is what I do, this is what works for me. This can work for you too, I don't know. I don't know you personally, so I can't say with absolute certainty. However, if anyone tell you that there is no money in the translation scene, that's bullshit, ignore it completely. But don't cut all ties with them, they just don't know what they're talking about. So basically, this is what you need to do: 1) Touch your heart and ask yourself, "Is this what I want to do?" It helps if you have actually done the job on a smaller scale before and knows the pros and cons of your decision 2) Ignore the naysayers. People who follow others blindly never becomes anything more than their master's shadow. If you think you can do it, do it. Bill Gates dropped out of school too. Warren Buffett even trashes colleges and universities. 3) If dropping out is what you must do, then do it. Be sure you know what you're getting into, because there will be no turning back. However, you're not alone. You do not need a university degree to be successful. These people have skills and vision, they decided that instead of letting it rot by doing and learning things with no benefit to them, they dropped out and made real money. Colleges and universities are machines of mass-production, real talents and real visionaries have no need for it. 4) Know the pros and cons of your choices and stick to it. You do not have to think long and hard to reach this conclusion. If you are confident enough that this can work and you have the vision and methods to make it work, take the plunge. There is still a chance that this move will also be a mistake, but at least you learn it early. You are still young, you have plenty of time to fix your mistakes. Fail early, is what some people would say. Of course, this depends on the sum of your education loan. If the sum of your education loan is very big and you still want to leave, find a way to handle it so that it doesn't bite you in the ass later on. Don't do what I did. I did lingerie, nightwear and bikini modelling to get the money to settle half of my loan. I won't tell you to imitate me, I doubt you'd even be able to do it in the first place. Not many can do what I did.
Thanks, this certainly helps a lot. At least I'm not agonizing over every homework and exam for my Japanese class like I did in programming. I certainly do enjoy learning the language and it is quite fun. I just had my first exam last week for my Japanese class and it was one of the highest scores in an exam ever since entering college. I'll just continue on and see where this leads me, perhaps everyone here might see some translated novels coming from me some time in the future for practice. Of course, my Japanese will have to get better before I even start.